Maybe you saw it, maybe you care, maybe you don’t.  The Bees are moving, from the Ballpark Community - to The Daybreak community.  Big deal, right?

At first, I was completely let down, our little community identity was defined by the fact that there is a baseball field in the middle of the neighborhood.  I thought - damn, there goes the single positive beacon of light in the neighborhood.  What now?

But then I gave it some more thought, and had a beer, and some more thought, and another beer.  I generally try to keep a positive outlook about things.  Generally, I consider problems to be opportunities.  And, yes, that means you have a drinking opportunity!

I watched Mayor Mendenhall’s videos, and requests to keep a positive outlook, and see this as an opportunity for our neighborhood.  She is launching a design competition for the space, and opportunity for common people like you and me, to toss our ideas in the hat, and try to brainstorm the absolute best redevelopment opportunities for that 13 acre parcel.

What are the possibilities for the Ballpark?  Salt lake City is looking to invest in the future of our space.  As I rummage around on the internet, a few ideas start to come out - a music venue, some competition for the amazing Red Butte Garden and USANA Amphitheater.  We love live music (obvi), so that would be cool.  I big huge venue right around the corner, we could sit on the patio and hear the live shows all night long?

How about some high-rise buildings with tons of housing (think Sugar House development), is that the right thing?  Pull Downtown south a bit - and allow people to move south while still remaining close to the city?  For me, it would provide lots of people that would flock to the Taproom, but it might lack that nice neighborhood feel that the rest of the area has.  I don’t know.

How about an outdoor walking mall (ewe did I say mall…), retail space, festival space, and some mixed use residential space?  A new Daybreak, or Gateway, or City Creek type space?  This would be filled with niche-y restaurants, tech-companies, hipster living, and some high-end retail shops, some local art galleries, maybe a quant brewery taproom in there somewhere??

I don’t have the answers, and this is only about a three-beer-brainstorm, I am sure we could come up with more.  So if you live nearby, or you have cool spaces in your own town, send them our way.  

What would you want to see?   How would you develop this space to benefit Salt Lake City, and Utah, and of course the small community surrounding the area?  The Salt Lake city Mayor’s office is looking for input - so let’s do the right thing, provide the input, and get this show on the road!

Cheers!